


Marble Statues and Weathered Paintings

by Lennon_me



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: 16 year old hermione, 16-Year-Old Harry, Abuse, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, D.A. is defense allies, Dark Mark, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors, Dumbledore's Army, F/F, F/M, Good night, Harry's scar, Help, Hogwarts Era, Hogwarts Inter-House Unity, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Horcruxes, I love constructive criticism, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, I'm Sorry, Inheritance, Legilimency, Legilimens, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mentions of Cancer, Money, My First Fanfic, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Not detailed tho, Occlumency, Please Don't Hate Me, Please Don't Kill Me, Please read, Pre-Slash, Quidditch, Room of Requirement, Self-Defense, Sorry Not Sorry, Triggers, War, Work In Progress, Working Out My Feelings Through Fic, but like older feelings tho?, but not sorry enough to stop, enjoy?, etc - Freeform, good luck, just kinda like idk, just not canon compliant at all, or morning, they're all 16, unless they're not, why is tagging hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-25 15:00:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12038352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lennon_me/pseuds/Lennon_me
Summary: Everyone thinks that the Dursleys are perfect. Harry visits them from Hogwarts for one weekend a month to see his 'beloved and sickly Aunt Petunia'. Why would the muggles be anything less than lovely to the famous Harry Potter? What happens when Harry's life isn't as it seems and he and Draco stumble upon each other in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom?Bad summary but basically it's a sixth year rewrite au and a spinoff of the bathroom scene in HBP but they don't try to curse each other. Pre-slash/pre-relationshipTRIGGER WARNING: There may be mentions of rape, abuse, and/or graphic descriptions of violence. Please do not read if it isn't safe for you to read





	1. Dual Isolation

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Please comment once you read this, Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated I hope you enjoy! This is my first fanfic and I started and posted it a year ago but I've redone this chapter and following ones and will be reposting them, hopefully soon. ~L  
> Disclaimer: As much as I wish it did, the world of Harry Potter does not belong to me and I am making no money off of borrowing J.K's characters.  
> WARNING: in this chapter there may be some hinting at an abusive situation. There will be more than hinting in later chapters and this will include topics and potentially graphic depictions of rape and abuse. Please do not read if this triggers you or you would rather not read those topics. This is all fictional.  
> 

 

Harry looked around the empty corridor and sprinted to the nearest bathroom, passing a startled Draco Malfoy. He ignored Malfoy and was promptly sick in the sink. After a minute of spluttering and gagging, he wiped his mouth and left the bathroom, choosing to ignore the tear tracks and surprised expression on Malfoy's face. He left, and went to the only place he could think of to be alone, the room of requirement.

He opened the door to a simple room. It had only a small armchair next a humble fireplace. Harry ignored the chair and sat on carpet. He sat with his knees drawn up to his chest, as if attempting to protect himself from the world. Harry wouldn't, couldn't think. Because when you think, you have to go over whatever is troubling you, or think of actual things. It was so much easier to lose himself in the intricate black and silver designs of the carpet than face reality. Whenever Harry turned around to face life, it punched him in the face - sometimes literally. It was so much easier to pretend everything was fine. That he was alright as long as he didn't admit otherwise. So he didn't think, not really, he just sat in the room forgetting.

Harry looked up, he didn't know how long he'd been in the room, but he'd need to get going if he wanted to get to defense against the dark arts on time. As soon as he wished to know the time, a clock appeared. Harry wasn't sure if he was happy to see it or not. Oh well, back to society. A place where everything was given a time in the timeless expanse of space. Where time was relative and meant nothing yet everything. Harry shook his head, no time to get all existential. He looked back at the clock and actually took note of the time this time.

"Bloody hell, I'm late. Snape will kill me," Harry murmured to the empty room. He ran down to the DADA room, fixing a somewhat happy expression on his face, it was still Snape's class after all. He made it to the room only a few minutes after the final bell. The lesson had barely begun but that didn't stop Snape from deducting a preemptive 10 points from Gryffindor. Harry groaned, Snape taking points wasn't unusual but he could tell that this would be a long class.

* * *

The double period DADA class was worse than Harry had thought imaginable. He knew it would be long but it felt as long as one of Binn's lectures. Now that was hard to top. Snape was in a foul mood, not even Slytherin was spared. Gryffindor had lost over fifty cumulative points. And Harry had lost half of them! As if that wasn't bad enough, the Slytherins were loudly complaining about how unfair it was, and how they didn't deserve the points taken off. They only lost 15 points!

Ron and Hermione walked ahead. As soon as Lavender had started showing interest in Ron that year, Harry had practically shoved Ron and Hermione at each other. They obviously were head over heels for each other and Harry definitely wouldn't let Lavender decimate any hopes of conversation between Ron and Hermione for an entire year. Things were hard enough on their own, he didn't need their constant bickering as well. As they walked ahead, Harry thought of that morning. He had gone to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom in hopes that it would be empty. He didn't need rumours spreading that he was sick. He was fine! Obviously. But then Malfoy had been there. By the time Harry had noticed Malfoy, he was already busy sicking up in the sink. He was nervous that Malfoy would hex him. After all, they had been 'arch-enemies' for years, it wasn't like they were on great terms. Regardless, Harry had put some trust in Malfoy. Honestly, what other choice did he have? Not much of one. Especially as he was busy losing his lunch to the sink. Surprisingly however, Malfoy hadn't hexed Harry. Or taunted Harry. Or even punched him. Well that was new. When Harry turned to leave the bathroom he had caught sight of the surprise thinly concealing a look of despair and not-so-subtle self-loathing on Malfoy's face. Harry didn't trust Malfoy, not in the slightest, they'd fought constantly for years. They'd each said terrible things to one another and nothing could be forgiven quickly or easily, if ever. Still, the look of drowning of isolation in a sea of people he found in Malfoy's eyes was akin to his own. Maybe they weren't as different as Harry had thought. But then again maybe they were. Harry would just need to wait and see.

* * *

Harry sighed and looked at his muggle calendar. One more week. One more week until he had to go back to the Dursley's and visit his 'kind and deathly ill aunt'. Of course, there was nothing wrong with Aunt Petunia anymore, in the medical sense anyway, and she definitely wasn't kind to anyone she looked down on. Unless she wanted something from them that is. Be it social standing or a cup of sugar she could be a picture perfect housewife to anyone when she wanted. But, as far as anyone but Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley, were concerned, he lived in a picturesque household with his sickly aunt and gruff yet kind uncle and cousin. Perfectly normal of course. No one knew about the real Dursleys, and Harry planned to keep it that way. They weren't terrible and it would be unfathomably embarrassing if anyone knew what a day in the Dursley household was like. At any rate he was used to it, he had been visiting the Dursley household for a weekend a month since first year. It wasn't nearly as daunting to leave his home at Hogwarts for a weekend anymore, but that didn't make it too much easier. Well, that didn't matter. Harry still had a whole week before he'd need to go back again. A week before he had to see his oh-so-perfect family.

Harry had thought about how he'd been sick that morning. He hadn't felt right for a few days, he'd been more irritable than normal and just felt off. He wasn't too surprised at the suddenness of being sick that morning. He'd been sick like this before. Harry didn't know what exactly he was sick with, but that didn't matter. He felt a little off for a few days, then he'd throw up a few days in a row, then he'd bleed a bit and be fine. Practically no pain too, just the vile taste of bile and vomit. The 'great savior of the wizarding world' wasn't allowed to show weakness so Harry didn't. He just had a little bug or something. That was all. He'd be perfectly normal in a few days. He was sure of it. It wasn't worth bothering someone about anyway.

Harry wondered what Malfoy had been so upset about. What had happened to make the tall, proud marble statue that was Draco Malfoy become a weathered warped painting, the weight of living splattered across it? There had been rumours of course. Rumours that Malfoy had been made a Death Eater. But rumours varied. Some said he was on the way to getting marked others said he already was. Yet others emphatically said he had no chance of receiving the dark mark because he was too young. Far too young. But what was age in a war? Nothing really. Some people said that Draco begged for it. Others that he had been forced and threatened into getting the mark. The rumour mill was moving at two hundred kilometers an hour, like one would at the tipping point of a war in a world the students were about to be shoved into. Whatever, Harry was tired, more tired than he'd been in a while. Maybe he would feel better in the morning and his questions about Malfoy would cease to pester him. Harry fell asleep with his mind full of questions, the image of Malfoy's tear-streaked face seared into his brain, nausea that had recently begun to felt omnipresent, and lingering dread of the upcoming visit to his family's house.


	2. Allies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Another chapter up! I have edited the original chapter and chapter one and would recommend going back to read it if you already have. I'll be fixing chapter 3 when I can. I hope you like this chapter I worked on it a lot and enjoyed describing some of the setting. This one was a monster. It took forever. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Please comment once you read this, I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Harry Potter's world does not belong to me. If it did the epilogue would be nonexistent and the entire thing would be very different. Regardless, I'm not making any money off of this and I'm not claiming to own the characters.
> 
> WARNING: in this chapter there may be some hinting at an abusive situation. There will be more than hinting in later chapters and this will include topics such as rape and abuse. Please do not read if this triggers you or you would rather not subject yourself to such intense topics.

 

Harry woke up screaming. Again. This, unfortunately, wasn't a rare occurrence for Harry. He hadn't had the… best life, per se, and Voldemort fueled many nightmares. Harry got up, thankful for the silencing charms he had cast around his four poster the previous night. He quickly changed, staying quiet as to not wake up the others in his dorm as it was, in their words, “An ungodly hour of the morning”. Well, they weren’t wrong. He stood up and stretched and grabbed the marauders map. He glanced at his invisibility cloak but decided against taking it. It was late, or should he say early, enough that no teachers should be up. Besides, the map would warn him of anyone coming. He put on his school robes and cast a glamour charm; who knew how long he’d be out. No one but the Dursleys had seen how he really looked in years. How thin and gaunt he looked with dark bruised circles under his eyes and baggy clothing nearly falling off of him. And he wanted to keep it that way, no one could ever know. He didn't need anyone's pity. They’d all try to stuff potions down his throat and treat him like one of Dumbledore’s delicate spindly objects. The ones that Harry had taken pleasure in smashing, thank you very much. As Harry walked through the common room and out the portrait hole, he thought back to the dream and shivered. It had been a rather unpleasant combination of the third task and Sirius' death. Just more reminders of preemptive casualties in a dawning war. People that shouldn't have died for years to come, people that had had next to no time to live. Two people with family and friends that wouldn’t see them again, who were dead because of him. Harry wondered the halls, ignoring the biting night air. The effect of the cold air was insignificant compared the the cold void he felt from thinking about Sirius and Cedric’s deaths. Everyone always tried to make him feel better about their deaths. Either that or guilt him into feeling worse. Society was all so superficial. Everyone who knew about either of their deaths would go to Harry and tell them how sorry they were, give fake and meaningless sentiments. Who would that help? Not a boy killed by a mere henchmen, who was referred to as a simply spell the murdered in cold blood. Not a godfather who’d been wrongly imprisoned the  _ two years _ after getting out been killed by a veil and his own cousin. They either gave meaningless sentiments or they would try to goad Harry into telling them the gory details. How they died how he felt what Vol- sorry  _ He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named _ looked or acted like. He guessed if one hadn’t lived through it then it wasn’t horrific, simply entertaining. Anyway, Harry didn’t understand their sentiments. Why would someone say they were sorry?  _ They _ didn't deem a smart brave child a spare and murder them without a second thought. They didn’t take Harry’s only godfather and ruthlessly slaughter him. The superficial condolences were driving Harry insane. Why was everyone expected to smile politely and accept meaningless words to make up for someone's death? The harsh cold reality that someone was never coming back? He had to pretend that he was okay, that he appreciated the thought. It was exhausting. They tried to assure him that it wasn't his fault. It was though. He had convinced Cedric to take the cup with him, unintentionally goaded Sirius into coming to the ministry. Death followed him, stealing away those around him. Everyone knew, deep down, that if it weren't for Harry, Sirius and Cedric, even Harry’s parents, would be alive. No one would need to deal with awkward and unfelt condolences. But they were dead, and Harry wasn't. So Harry had to be healthy and happy and okay. And that’s what he looked and acted like. Why would anyone believe any differently? Why should anyone care whether or not that was the reality?

Harry wandered the castle, sure he'd already looped through half of it twice. He just kept walking, walking until morning, until the sun would be beautiful, rising to its place high in the sky. Until his mask would rise with the sun and he’d need to take his place as high as the sun, on a pedestal, the vanguard of this coming war. The ‘chosen one’. Night was when Harry was alone and not always on guard. That was the time that Harry loved most. He walked and walked, until the first rays of light spilled into the castle warming his gaunt cheek. Now, he was officially allowed to walk through the halls without needing to check his map. He wasn’t walking around in the dead of night or “looking for trouble”. He was just a normal student going on an early walk. Harry would meet Ron and Hermione at breakfast. They knew he had a habit of going on early walks, even if they didn't know quite how early he left for said walks. Besides, Harry thought, it was good for the new couple to have time together without him disturbing them.

Harry walked, his course set for the great hall. That is, until he remembered yesterday. Harry had forgotten he was sick. He was nearly too late and ran through deserted corridors to lose the meager contents of his stomach into the sink in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He washed out his mouth and cast a quick scourgify of the sink. Harry looked up to see Draco Malfoy, once again, right where he stood yesterday. The stared at each other for a moment, a picture perfect copy of their “meeting” yesterday. Both boys had been using the bathroom for the privacy specific to this area of the castle and, by extent, bathroom. It had been deserted because of Myrtle for years and even more so after the haunting messages about the chamber of secrets had refused to be removed from the surrounding walls. No one ventured anywhere near this abandoned part of the castle if they could help it, and they always could. Who wanted to see haunting words of a chamber, mudbloods, or promises of a first year’s death. No one. And therefore the area was always deserted. Yet, here they were, one there to break down, and the other to hide the cracks in his facade that sickness had wormed its way into. Two boys searching for privacy only to find one another. 

"Erm... er... sorry I - er bye," Was Harry's brilliant reply Malfoy's surprised and piercing stare. Harry left quickly, flustered, only to look back to find Malfoy just as lost for words as he was. Harry kicked himself. He probably should've expected to see Malfoy again, Malfoy had been there yesterday after all, but he had, oddly enough, been more surprised today than yesterday to see him. 

Harry thought about it, it would be bad if Malfoy started blabbing to the world that Harry was sick. He might get sent to the hospital wing and he hated any type of hospital or doctor even if the “doctor” was a mediwitch. They were about as far from his comfort zone as Hermione was from failing all her N.E.W.T.S., or failing anything for that matter. Harry didn't think Malfoy would mention it though. They had the same amount of information on each other, neither could share the other's secret without putting their own at risk. It didn’t matter that Harry didn't think any less of Malfoy after seeing him break down. Malfoy would probably still see the situation as potential blackmail. Why had Malfoy been crying though? It made the boy that had been the brunt of Harry's anger for years look human. Before, Malfoy had always had the perfect life, the loving wizarding family, and, he'd been prejudiced and rude to Harry's friends and Harry’s parents. It was easy to be cruel to his classmate, when he had a perfect life and insulted Harry’s friends anyway. It was especially easy to be mean to Malfoy because no one thought he was being that mean or mean at all. Malfoy was a Slytherin after all, and Harry was the noble Gryffindor. Gryffindors could do no wrong after all. Harry thought about that, and he felt sorry. He'd felt sorry before of course, he could see that he was being just as mean as Dudley was to him. But it was so easy to disregard, to pretend like he wasn't a bully because everyone else thought he was just being a good friend, Gryffindor is always better than Slytherin right? Don’t the Slytherins deserve it? This was the first time Harry was truly and irrevocably repentful. He continued down the hall to meet Ron and Hermione for breakfast. He might not tell them, but he would change. Not all Slytherins were evil, regardless of whether or not Malfoy was, and Harry was ashamed by how he’d treated an entire house in the past. He would try at least to stop.

Classes had been busy today but Harry hadn't been assigned much homework, thankfully. It was still early afternoon but Harry was looking forward to that evening. The DA was meeting. Most people had expected it to disband once Umbridge was replace as DADA teacher but Harry had decided to keep it going. He felt that one could never have too much defense practice in the face of a war. Besides, some of the students were either too scared of Snape to learn anything or hated him too much to listen. They knew Harry, and Harry could give them hands on lessons and individual help. Besides, Luna had been so happy during the meetings. If they were nothing but a safe place to eliminate conflict Harry would be happy. The sorting hat was right. A united front was necessary during a war. House rivalry was disaster in the making.Harry was excited for the meeting. He planned to have it in the room of requirement again. They would review what they learned last year, have a meeting about the rules, and hopefully change the name. Harry had given it a lot of thought, and he wanted to change the name to Defence Allies. It was a much less ostentatious. Besides, it allowed people to join that were on the light side of the war but not aligned with Dumbledore. While lurking in secret passages or corners under his invisibility cloak, Harry picked up a lot of the student's mood regarding the upcoming war. Many were apprehensive but ready to fight to defend their friends or family. What Harry had found, was that a nearly a third of the people he'd heard were aligned with the light side of the war but not Dumbledore. They thought that he worked too much towards the greater good. He was okay sacrificing some lives to let others live, even if they were muggles. Maybe especially if they were muggles; if they were muggles they couldn’t help him. Dumbledore wouldn't act until he was certain that he wouldn't fail. But this was war and Harry found himself agreeing with other people's points. There would be casualties in the war, that was undeniable, but they could be limited by aggressive yet planned, thorough and safe action. Harry was excited to cover more of this in the DA meeting. 

Harry cast a quick tempus charm and saw that it was only 4:15. He had some time before dinner and the meeting. Apparently, doing his homework early had some benefits. Harry glanced to his left to see Ron and Hermione giggling and talking together. They were good together and Harry was glad they had finally admitted their feelings. They didn't even exclude him often, which was more than he expected. There was a good balance. They would hang out together most of the time but when Harry could tell they wanted some time together, he would leave. He didn't mind leaving them alone, it was honestly surprising they put up with him so much. Harry looked out the window; it was a beautiful sunny day with a bit of wind rustling the leaves of the trees surrounding the black lake. Cool enough to wear a jumper but not so cold he had to wear his cloak. Harry decided to take a walk around the lake. He needed to enjoy the September air, and abandon some of his problems. He could leave them hidden away in the castle for now.

Harry checked the time. He still had an hour before the meeting was due to start. Harry, on a spur of the moment decision, turned to go to the DADA classroom, cursing himself between his long strides He knew that Snape would be irritated and more than likely upset with him, but he found that he didn't care.

"Mr. Potter... what do you need?" Snape drawled, predictably irritated at being disturbed by his least favorite, or should we say most loathed student.

"Well-er... sir I-" Harry stammered mentally kicking himself for being a bother and simultaneously signing his own death warrant.

"Spit it out!" Snape barked.

Harry pulled himself together and stood up straight, "Sir, as you may know, last year I joined some students in creating a club to practice defense due to Professor Umbridge's er - inadequacy. The club was important. We needed it to practice. We plan to continue this club for extra practice even though... er... we have you as a better teacher this year. Er - I just wanted to let you know that we'll be meeting and that er- we erm... don't mean to say your not a good teacher but... extra practice is always good?" 

Snape silently evaluated Harry for a minute, trying to find a way to disband the club without showing blatant bias against Potter, but he had no such luck. "Fine Mr. Potter. But do try not teach anyone wrong techniques you undoubtedly put your faith in.  Try not to convince them of to much that will be detrimental to their learning in my class, if those imbeciles even can learn," Snape sneered. And as Harry began to leave Snape was quick to add, “and twenty points from Gryffindor for wasting my time with your  _ club _ .”. He was sure Harry would do more harm than good with the club but it wasn't against any rules so Snape couldn't ban it unless he wanted more grief from the other teachers. Curse Gryffindors and their idiocy! Of course they had to be noble and alert Snape of the club. Now, he couldn't even get them in trouble for sneaking around or undermining his authority.

Harry practically ran out of Snape's office, sighing in relief. Snape was mean and unfair and hated Harry beyond reason. But, Harry figured he kind of deserved it. At least that wasn’t how the other teachers were. They were nice. He hurried to the room of requirement so he could be there early to set up the first practice training of the year. Harry summoned a large spacious room with a high ceiling and windows that allowed light to flood in. Half of the spacious room had floors that were covered in mats to cushion falls during duels. This area was surrounded by padded walls and a racetrack. A corner of it even had mock obstacles and dummies to use in a fight. The other half of the grand hall was divided into five parts. One part was a library with towering bookshelves fit to give Hermione an apoplectic fit. He could just imagine her voice, “You really thought of this! Look at all the books! I wonder how many there are! Where do you think they all come from?”. Of course, it was in the room of requirement so any book you wanted would come straight to your hand. The library had cushions and armchairs to rest in and and fire to read by as well as desks to work at when not practicing spells. One part of the library section - that Harry was rather proud of if he did say so himself - had a large tome filled with blank pages that Harry had started for students to write down uncommon or common spells to use in battle, in everyday life, or for fun. Harry saw this as a way for the students to collaborate and learn each other's favorite spells. Harry had started the book off with "Riddikulus: A spell used on a boggart to brighten your worst fear by dispelling it with laughter,". The second section was a classroom-type area (except more comfortable) where Harry could address the group. It was an area reminiscent of a small amphitheater with cushioned areas to sit on and foldable desks. Harry was hopeful that it would  work similarly to a classroom but less dull and more engaging to students. The third area was a space full of magical antiquities and dark magic detectors. Cursed items and magical creatures and whatever the room could come up with. That was the area to learn more about various forms of offense defense usable in a war besides the obvious magic. The fourth part of the room was a training area. It was for physical training. It was relatively simple but still had various weights and items to use for training. Harry assumed they could add more to that later. He knew that the first thought Ron would probably have when he saw this was that they should add a quidditch pitch. On afterthought, it probably wasn’t such a crazy idea to have a place to fly. Brooms could be crucial in a fast escape. Well, he could have Ron add that later. Ron knew more about Quidditch pitches than he did, all Harry did was focus on the snitch. The last part of the hall was a game area. There were various games - muggle and wizarding games alike - hammocks to rest in, pillows to lay on, and whatever one wanted to conjure. That was the area to have fun. All these main areas were like separate rooms, opening into a large circular center. It was divided into the practice area to the other five sections curving around to make a circle with a track encircling all of it. The five separate areas were like rooms with only 3 walls which opened up to the training floor in the center so they could all watch each other practice. Harry stood back and looked at the room he had created. He nodded, it would perform wonderfully for what he had planned.

No more than a minute after Harry had finished setting up the room, Hermione and Ron along with Neville, Ginny, Luna, Dean, and Seamus entered. Harry let them have a minute to look around and take in their surroundings before getting down to business. 

"Er... so, this is the new room for this year-" Harry began. He liked the room but their silence was rather off putting. What if they hated it? Maybe they were here to say they didn’t want to stay in the club. Maybe-

"Bloody hell mate, it's amazing!" Ron interrupted. The others agreed, still looking around the massive training hall.

"Well... erm... yes, I figured this year because this club isn't against the rules, we could meet more and cover more areas of defense." Harry continued.

"That's just what I was going to suggest! Defense spells become much more effective when you know theory and other aspects of defense as well! And we could go over normal spells that can be repurposed and we could all learn so much! Oh my god look at all these books-" Hermione paused to catch her breath, and Harry thought it was the perfect chance to jump in. 

"Yes, that's what I figured. So everyone should be coming in around five minutes so I just wanted to let you guys know a bit of what I'm planning for tonight. I thought we could start over there," Harry gestured to the mock-classroom area, "and go over rules and various announcements as well as the uses for the different parts of this room. Then, I want to go into some review on what we went over last year and then give them some time to duel or look at the various things I included in the room." Harry finished. They all agreed to Harry's plan, amazed at his organization. Harry rubbed that back of his neck nervously as they seemed to take in the room. He knew he usually was a last minute type of person but could tell it was obvious them that he put a lot of time into the room.

"Oh, er Harry? I just wanted to let you know that we told everyone they were welcome to invite their friends because er... you mentioned wanting to get some new people." Dean said hesitantly, "I just wanted to warn you, there might be more than last year."

"Oh- er… ok Dean, thanks. Definitely. The more people we have here the better." Harry replied. He hadn’t really thought about it. It seemed beyond weird that as many people as were there had been last year even bothered to show up just to hear him teach but, he conceded, some people just enjoyed sneaking around from Umbridge. Some were also terrified. Hopefully the room wouldn’t dwarf the group. After all, he didn’t expect that many people would come. Just then members from last year started entering the room it seemed that nearly everyone had brought a friend or two. They all looked around in shock. It seemed to Harry that as soon as one person came in the floodgates opened. Harry spent the next ten minutes herding everyone towards the amphitheater-type section and half-heartedly trying to hide his nervous fidgeting. There were a lot of people. What did they expect out of him? He didn’t want to not deliver and put everyone off learning defense, how else would they defend against Death Eaters? 

"Okay, Okay. Everyone please take a seat." Harry began, casting a sonorous charm on his voice so it carried over the hushed conversations of everyone present, "Wow," Harry chuckled nervously, "there are a lot of you.” He straightened up. If he thought of this gathering as war tactics instead of trying to make a good first impression he’d be fine. He didn’t need to worry about being unlikeable. He just needed to set the groundwork. He’d thought about this all summer. He would be fine. Just ignore the people. Harry cut off the brief silence with a deep breath and clearing of his throat accompanied by a welcome. “Welcome to our first meeting this year. For those of you that are new to this club, we began a defense club of sorts last year because we felt that Professor Umbridge wasn't teaching us properly and we needed to learn to defend ourselves on our own. So, first of all, this club is no longer against the rules. Second of all, I am not holding this club because I think that Professor Snape is incapable of teaching us properly. I personally informed him of this club. This club is meant to better our defensive magic in all aspects to perform better on tests,  for any practical uses, and to be able to defend against the threat of any corrupt wizards we may encounter."

"Don't you hate Snape?" One kid yelled out.

Another said, "Tell us about how you went against Voldemort!"

"Wait a minute!" Harry said, his loud yet calm voice immediately silencing the conversation that had erupted, "in answer to the first question, while it may be true that Professor Snape and I have not gotten along in the past, I still do not discount his teaching abilities. Secondly,  if any of you are here to learn about me facing dark wizards and Voldemort please leave now. This is a  **defense** club, not an interview with Reeta Skeeter," Harry sneered at her name. No one left and  _ no one _ doubted his dislike of the reporter. "Ok, now that that is settled, we need to go about some orders of business. Last year this club was named 'Dumbledore's Army' to mock the idea that Dumbledore was building an army to overthrow the ministry. This year we will still be the D.A. but that will be short for Defense Allies. We want to focus on defense and unification. Right now, I am passing around a piece of parchment for you to sign your name to join the club. Unlike last year, this will not prevent you from speaking of the club. This is not a contract stating that you must join the club or cannot leave, it is just to see how many people are interested in joining." Harry paused to sign his name and pass on the parchment. "Ok, into rules. So first of all, the normal rules, respect the equipment, the students helping you, and respect everyone here. I will be strict on that last one. You are all different ages and have various strengths and weaknesses. None of us are perfect and none of us are bad at this. And by respect I don’t mean do whatever they want, just be nice and respect people and their authority. This is a place to practice without any criticism beyond what is helpful and constructive. This rule should be followed outside this club as well. You all should set examples for other students. You don’t want to be those people that hex each other at the drop of a hat. Only hex each other unless in a controlled and willing duel. I don't want this club to be known for people that learn more use their knowledge to pretend they are better than or to bully others. I want this to be a club of people who learn in order to help others and themselves. There will be absolutely no antagonizing each other or thinking less of anyone due to their house or blood status. I have had my own rivalries in the past and intend to put them aside. This means I will neither verbally or physically attack another student in this castle unless there are extreme circumstances. Every single person in this room should abide by the rules. Do I make myself clear?" Harry asked forcefully. When met with murmurs of agreement and assent he continued, "Thank you. Now, some of you have already invited more people to join this club. Thank you for inviting people, I want anyone who wants to to come here.

"I encourage you to continue to invite friends and peers to this club, regardless of house. I would like a show of hands, raise your hand if you are from Hufflepuff." A quarter of the hands went up along with a few weak cheers, "Be proud of your house and your values, here we are of different houses and appreciate how each house compliments those differences. Raise your hand if you are if Ravenclaw!" A quarter of the members raised their hands and let out quiet cheers. "And raise your hand if you are in Gryffindor!" A little less than half of the members raised their hands and let out a loud cheer. "Thank you, and raise your hand if you are in Slytherin!" Three small hands went up in the back silent. The two third year girls and one fourth year boy looked terrified, "Awesome! I am very glad we have some Slytherins this year! I would love to have more variety of all the house. I would also like to take this time to say that there are no 'good' houses or 'bad' houses. Slytherins are sometimes seen as bad due to their ambition, but it looks to me as if these three brave Slytherins came here because of  their ambition to learn. Thank you for coming," Harry nodded to the Slytherins, "I know there has been a rivalry between the other houses and Slytherin for many years. I would like to say that not all evil wizards come from Slytherin, and, while I still don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, I welcome them into this group as much as any Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff!" Harry concluded his speech on that unified note then changed the topic. He let out a breath. How did that speech sound so… put together? He sounded like a teacher or something… not like himself that was for sure. Maybe it was because he spent so long obsessing and thinking about houses and every little detail. Anyway, time to move on.

"Ok, now we need to review some of what we learned last year. If you weren't here last year or still need help, people that do have the spells down please help them. One of the best ways to learn stuff is to teach it to someone else. It sure has helped me. Oh, and really quickly, before we begin, let me explain what everything is before I forget again,” he laughed nervously, “to the left here, is er, the duelling area. There are mats and spells in place so we can duel and train with no fear of causing damage as long as you use appropriate spells. I added obstacles to practice with, a training area for like exercise and stuff,” at Ron’s hopeful look Harry immediately added, “and if Ron wants to organize it we can add a Quidditch pitch and any other exercise things, I didn’t know what to add. There’s also a library, a room dedicated to magical creatures and devices, and a group common room. I believe that all of these things are kinda necessary to our training. Think about it, a library is crucial because we can learn much more about spells if they also look into theory, it is also good to research more on spells you are interested in. Also some people er learn differently? Um I guess I tend to learn by practicing spells and Hermione learns by understanding theory? It’s just so we all have options I guess… If a book you want is on higher level magic, you might need to ask me or some others about getting it. There is also a room on creatures and devices. I put that there because everyone should know that there are different sides to defense that are all useful. You will probably be a lot better at defense if you have multiple ways of achieving one end as a fail-safe. Just in case one or two ways aren’t possible in whatever situation you’re in. There is also an area to exercise because fitness is important in defense. Like if you’re in a duel you shouldn’t just stand there, when spells break through your shield you might need to er, move and dodge. The last room is what’s like a group common room. Basically it is where you can rest and play games, like a common room, but with people from different houses. Cuz we need a break yeah? Thanks, and I will finally be done talking.” He stood up from where he’d been leaning on a desk and started walking over to the duelling and training area. “Now, the first spell you will work on is Expelliarmus. If you don’t think this spell is worth learning ask some D.A. veterans to explain my rant from last year to you." He said with a chuckle.

Harry walked around, helping people and coaching them the rest of the night. Neville, Luna, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione also helped a lot. It was crucial to have old members helping new ones due to their radically increased number. Harry still couldn’t believe the sheer number of people. He had a confidant exterior but was seconds away from a nervous breakdown internally. He truly didn’t understand why all they people would choose to be here let alone listen to him. Who would listen to Harry? He was just meant to be a figurehead after all. All the people had been watching him, as if waiting for his next mistake and reading to point out any flaws they could think of to one another after he finished speaking. It was nerve-wracking and Harry wanted nothing more than to hide in a dark corner. A corner of the room seemed to get increasingly darker with his thoughts. It would be perfect for him to hide away in… no. Harry needed to stay strong. It was almost night. Then he could don his real face and escape the structures of social niceties and human interaction. After another hour, the meeting was over. Everyone began heading back to their various dormitories, hurrying so they could get back before curfew. Harry made it back to his dorm at last. He was tired and stressed and all he wanted to do was sleep. He changed into his pajamas. They were old and ratty but he’d had them for years so he’d slowly grown into them. He tried to think back, they were Dudley’s when he was 9 maybe? Dudley always did discard clothes right as he’d gotten them. It seemed to Harry that Dudley grew faster than a cheetah could run. Although, by that standard, Harry grew at about the rate of a sloth. Oh, well. Just another thing for people to talk about. He sat on the bed and cast his nightly privacy charms. The meeting had gone well. Harry was rather happy. Probably the happiest he'd been in a while. And how messed up was that, considering that Cedric and Sirius had died recently, the wizarding world was at the brink of war with him at the face of it, and he still had to go back to the Dursleys monthly. Harry sighed, took off his glamour, and went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please comment. I will try to update again soon, but I just started fostering two adorable kittens so I may be a bit busy with that.


	3. Just a Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Another chapter up! Please comment and enjoy!  
> So I redid the last two chapters enough the you should reread those if you haven't already and I still need to redo this one. It should hopefully be up soon but I'm busy so I'll just let you know I'll try to get this chapter fixed and another one up soonish.
> 
> I just redid this one and hopefully you enjoy it! Constructive criticism would be wonderful. Thanks for reading! ~L
> 
> Disclaimer: I am only playing with the characters of Harry Potter. As much as it pains me, they don't belong to me.
> 
> WARNING: in this chapter there will be mention and a brief description of an abusive situation. There will be more in later chapters and this story will include topics such as rape and abuse. Please do not read if this triggers you or you would rather not subject yourself to such intense topics. This is all fictional and done only for recreational writing.

 

 

Harry woke up in a cold sweat, again. This was a different type of nightmare though. This was the type where he woke up shaking, curled into a ball in the corner of his bed, taking up as little room as possible and poised to make sure the next attack did as little damage as possible. He had dreamt of the Dursleys. Of their savage words and actions, their piercing neglect. The dream was composed of snapshots of his  _ childhood _ . Reflections of the life he spent trying to blend into the background. This had worked wonderfully. A beautiful tactic of melting into oblivion. It seemed to work perfectly, until a witch or wizard saw his scar. Everyone noticed each little detail about him once they knew he was famous. And that was why his glamour charms were imperative. With them, Harry was whole. The Dursley's were nonexistent and he was just Harry. Harry stood up, strengthening the glamour on the bags under his eyes. Bags big enough to carry Hermione’s books. He chuckled. He was going crazy just sitting around the dorm.

* * *

 

Harry sat on the cold stone floor, forehead resting against the cool wall. He had been wandering the halls for hours before passing the bathroom. He figured he'd just stay there, he was tired of walking and didn't want to run to the bathroom that day. Besides, it was quiet. The halls had been getting steadily louder and more crowded as it got closer to breakfast and Harry enjoyed the peace. He was quiet, in that corner. He was good at not being noticed. Not even Moaning Myrtle had noticed him yet. Then, at the same time as yesterday he stood up and ran to the sink, heaving up his meager dinner. He coughed and spluttered for a few moments and Malfoy walked in. Harry didn't know what to say so he just ignored him, scourgifying the sink. Today, he didn't leave. He just sat back down on the floor, leaning his head against the cool stone of the sink. Malfoy did the same, a few sinks down. Although, Malfoy was closer to collapsing than sitting down with his usual grace. Harry saw Malfoy's facade being demolished, saw through to the scared boy sitting on a cold floor. He assumed that's what he himself would look like if he ever truly let his guard down. Right now though, this was the closest he'd gotten to showing himself to anyone since he'd started at Hogwarts. No one had seen him at this vulnerable in his memory, and he wasn't even truly letting his guard down. They just sat there in a comfortable silence, both lost in their thoughts, not worried about their 'arch enemy' sitting across from them, for some inexplicable reason.

They'd been sitting there for maybe an hour when they heard someone enter the bathroom. Harry froze, but Malfoy acted with lightning fast reflexes, casting a notice-me-not charm in a dome over them. Harry was surprised that Malfoy would help him, despite the fact that they had come to a silent truce over the past few days. Malfoy shushed Harry and they retreated to a corner of the bathroom, unseen.

A small girl entered the bathroom. She was a Hufflepuff if the yellow on her robes was anything to go by. Her eyes were wide and wet. She sniffed and subtly wiped her eyes despite the fact that, to her knowledge, there was no one around. She jumped and turned as Myrtle entered. A small and tearful she looked one second, the next her face was cold and impassive. Harry’s heart broke a little for her. Maybe masks were necessary, but that didn’t change the fact that they could be, and often were, crippling. Harry looked over and saw Malfoy regarding the girl’s mask with a rather intimate recognition. Harry was shaken from his thoughts as the girl started talking. “Ew Myrtle I don’t want to see  _ you _ ,” her mask and chin were up and her words were cutting. “I was only here because I was dared to… yeah, it was a dare.” Harry could almost see the wheels in her head turning and the lie gradually gaining momentum, “They said I wasn’t brave enough or smart enough or pretty enough… but I feel better now I see you! Ha! No one even goes to this part of the castle because they all hate you. At least I’ll never be that bad. You’re too annoying for your own good. And I bet you can’t even get the courage to leave this bathroom to tell anyone how- how m-mean I’m being?” the girl wilted a bit at the end of the sentence before continuing. “Nevermind that, you deserve this. You know they only dared me to come here because most people are too scared of catching your ugliness to come anywhere near you. Don’t you wonder why you never have visitors?” Harry held his breath hoping Myrtle wouldn’t rat him or Malfoy out. 

“I-I-I-” Myrtle tried to retort but simply hung her head. Harry chanced a brief glance at Malfoy showed a boy who seemed a quiet kind of angry. As if he could see that the girl’s actions towards Myrtle were what Myrtle was used to and he wanted to be Myrtle’s protector. As if he understood the Hufflepuff’s actions and was thoroughly repulsed by both her and his understanding. “How did you even die Myrtle? Did you look in a mirror and drop dead? Why would you of all people live in a bathroom, you can’t even escape your ghastly face with all the mirrors! Why did you even stick around, wearing those absolutely dreadful clothes. What are they, a hundred years old? 

“I only died fifty years ago!” Myrtle tried to gather herself, sound indignant, but was simply cut down again.

“Did you get those clothes out of a rubbage bin or the gutter then? It had to be one of those, who would actually  _ buy _ that? You might as well wear nothing at all you freaky four eyes, you can’t do anything right you should’ve just been thrown away when you were born, you’re useless!” Each word of the girl’s last sentences hit Harry harder than a wrecking ball. There were, if one looked hard enough - which nobody ever would - microscopic tears in his eyes summoned by the far too familiar insults. Harry began to reach for his wand to hex her all the way to next year but remembered his earlier words, “I will neither verbally or physically attack another student,” he sighed and lowered his wand. He couldn’t be a hypocrite, that was exactly what he hated about adults. Revenge, however, found a way of prevailing. As soon as Harry had reached his decision Malfoy had reached an opposing verdict. Harry heard a string of curses not appropriate for a third year to hear mixed in with hexes and, soon enough, the girl’s hair turned green, her mouth sealed itself shut and on her forehead was written the words “Myrtle’s Tormenter”. The girl looked in the mirror, gasped, and ran out. Malfoy simply stood there his arm still outstretched looking positively livid. As he lowered his arm Harry could hear some of what Malfoy was muttering. Something about “entitled brats not realising…” and “why… it is true for some… does she not realise that… how is it so easy… that mean?”.

Harry agreed with what Malfoy was saying, or what he could hear anyway. Although he did notice how her insults gradually went from hesitant to malicious, carrying all the girl’s grief, he also noticed how she seemed to almost relish the insults at the end.

Malfoy slowly regained his senses and lifted the notice-me-not charm while Harry approached Myrtle who was still cowering in the corner. Harry plopped himself down next to her and began to speak, "Are you ok Myrtle? That was really mean what that girl said and not at all true. I think you’re awesome and good at keeping secrets. I’m sorry I didn’t visit you more, that wasn’t very nice… but anyway I like your glasses, they’re better than mine anyway." Harry let out a soft chuckle at the sorry state of his glasses, “anyway you’re bloody awesome and don’t let a girl with self esteem issues get you down. She’s not worth it. She probably won’t even remember this besides getting hexed and there’s no use getting so upset when reasonable people, well reasonable people and I can tell you how great you are. You never try to scare the firsties or prank us, you’re nice and I know what people say hurts and it’s hard to not let it get to you but for you Myrtle, for you it shouldn’t be hard because not even a bit of that’s true.” Harry’s voice got softer and softer as he continued as some memories managed to catch up to him. “Anyway! I’m rambling but er- you’re great and don’t forget that so er- yeah.” He received a sniffling sort of smile in return so he continued, "that girl was cruel to you. I for one think you are very pretty." Harry declared and Myrtle began to perk up more. Harry continued, gaining a ridiculous but entertaining formality "I wish to personally give you my condolences regarding your early death. Truly, only the good die young.” He dropped the air, “I'm also sorry that I haven't spoken to you for more than a few sentences before. Don't listen to anything she said. She probably said it because she thinks you are prettier than her and she was insecure!"

"Y-you think so?" Myrtle asked.

"Of course." Harry said definitely. "No one is just that mean for no reason." he continued awkwardly patting Myrtle's shoulder even though his hand didn't make contact with a solid shoulder. "By the way, I never thanked you for helping me in second and fourth years, you were brilliant."

"Th-thanks," Myrtle said, her sniffing subsiding a bit more.

Malfoy jumped in, "Yeah, I agree with Potter, besides, you are pretty, and your hair is always perfect."

Myrtle blushed and smiled, all traces of tears gone.

"Did you see that girl once Malfoy was done with her?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, she looked terrible, talk about embarrassing!" Malfoy added.

Myrtle laughed, "She did, didn’t she?" Myrtle thought for a moment, "What were you two doing here? Besides, I thought you were enemies?"

Harry took one look at Malfoy and stuck out his hand. "Truce?" Malfoy looked at the hand for a second, a scene so reminiscent of first year, the root of their rivalry, and burst out laughing. Harry joined him. Once their laughter subsided, they explained the 'incident' in first year to Myrtle. 

"Why were you here though?" Myrtle asked.

They both hesitantly explained, evading facts as much as possible. Harry had just mentioned that he was sick and explained how he didn't want to worry anyone else. Malfoy just said he needed time to think and not act like he was expected to. Both of them knew that there was more to each other’s story, that they were hiding far more than each could probably guess, but they left it alone. Harry personally knew how necessary shields and secrecy could be. The mind was a chasm meant for hiding the worst so the fields at the top could flourish. They began talking hesitantly, sometimes not believing that all three of them were behaving civilly, together no less, but they managed. After a bit, Myrtle promised that she wouldn't tell anyone whenever they made use of the abandonment of her bathroom and they, in turn, promised to stay her friend and visit. Harry promised himself he would come and visit even when he didn’t feel the overwhelming need to escape people and hypocrites and expectations. He would come to see Myrtle. Sometimes at least. He still needed a place to hide. Harry cast a quick tempus charm and saw that breakfast was almost over.

* * *

 

"Er, Malfoy, er if we want to get any food we should go." Harry said.

"Won't it be a little er, suspicious if we both show up late to breakfast at the same time?" Malfoy asked.

Harry thought a moment, "Well, I guess could go to the kitchens to eat and you could-"

"Wait, you know where the kitchens are!" Malfoy interrupted, looking as excited as a child given a new toy.

"Er, yeah I do, we can go together if you want." 

"Yesyesyesyes," Malfoy quickly composed himself, "Er, yes please, that'd be acceptable."

"Ok then, follow me I guess," Harry said, bemusedly thinking of Malfoy’s obvious excitement. He stopped a moment and turned around. "Two rules though, no telling anyone else about this, and no being mean to the house elves, ok?"

Malfoy eagerly agreed and they continued on. Harry would say he was bouncing along happily if not for the fact that Harry expected even thinking such a thought of Draco Malfoy would leave him with a snide comment about how “Malfoys don’t…”. Malfoy snorted as Harry opened the portrait to the kitchen, "Did you tickle every portrait to find that one?"

"No don't be mental, George and Fred told me," Harry laughed, Harry wasn't like his friends in Slytherin Malfoy noticed. It wasn't like Harry was insulting him, only laughing with him. It was weird. They ate breakfast together in the kitchens while Harry grinned at Malfoy's awe at the kitchens.

"What, have you never seen a kitchen before?" Harry joked.

"No," Harry looked at Malfoy disbelievingly, "Wait, never?! Never ever? Do you live under a rock!?"

"No, of course not,” Malfoy sniffed, “We live in Malfoy manor. That’s hardly comparable to a rock.”

“No, no that’s just a muggle saying i guess… anyway you’ve never been in a kitchen?!”

“Well, what was I supposed to expect? The house elves always just made everything appear on the plates, how was I supposed to know where it came from?" Malfoy said as if it was the most normal thing ever. 

Harry laughed at the utter absurdity of it. They talked a bit, Harry treating this as if Malfoy was someone he’d never met before. A complete stranger. Harry’s mask was firmly in place but he laughed and they exchanged harmless banter for a bit. They kept talking until it was nearly time to head to class. They decided to leave at different times in case anyone was walking by. They would probably never be comfortable enough around each other to actually be  _ seen together _ . The thought was rather absurd. As Malfoy left, he paused at the entry way, "Yes," He said eventually, "in answer to your question earlier, yes, a truce might turn out alright."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Hope you enjoyed! I'll try to add another chapter soon but my mom just had knee surgery so I'm writing from the hospital. Comments, Kudos, and Constructive Criticism would be great! ~L


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